Around the world in 48 hours

Around the world in 48 hours  by Kim Alderden

Where are you able to sip a mojito in Mexico, taste Swiss cheese and connect in your best Chinese (Ni hao) with the sales person of that amazing new hotel in Shanghai? In Barcelona! In Barcelona? Yep. Every year the EIBTM trade show stages more and more exhibitors. Over 3000 suppliers gathered last November to show their X-factors at the three-day event.

Say cheese! I see myself on the spotme.com Ipad wall

My character is a bit chaotic and it helps that I have to schedule appointments on forehand otherwise I probably fill my time by just gallivant from booth to booth. Focus! Okidook, I need to know more about the South American countries. I ‘travel’ to Argentina and Uruguay. Here I meet a very nice French lady who lived in Argentina for 12 years, her stories are for real. A great incentive treat, no doubt about it. However there is also a downside on this beautiful destination. The economic situation is far from ideal. But let’s keep up the goods spirit because Argentina deserves it!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Santa Claus is coming to town  by Kim & Yolanda

Santa Claus is coming to town

But do you know Santa has a friend?

We Dutchies call him Sinterklaas

And he knows how to spend!

He arrives mid November

All the way by boat from Spain

He brings his white horse and lots of helpers

For kids he is king, who knows how to reign.

Part of the fun is writing short poems

In which you tease your kids or mother-in-law

Share your thoughts and create a good laughter

Success guaranteed, we always have a ball!

Are you in for an evening with family & friends?

Invite them now and make them write

We hope we inspired you

So that you can have a great Dutch night.

More information about this typical Dutch event, click here

Tents for Events

Tents for Events  by Kim Alderden

Looking for the global nomad experience? Read on as we pull back the flap of the tent to share our discoveries with you.

We’ve been travelling the world in search of tent adventures. To be honest, staying under canvas isn’t always glamorous – sometimes nature comes right into the tent or even under the bed sheets. But for those interested in stepping off the beaten path, canvas is magnificent. In the past few years, canvas adventures have been gaining attention in incentive circles and today interest has shifted into high gear: nomading is one of the hottest choices around and Morocco is the country of choice.

Fifteen years ago, hardy souls seeking a nomad camp found themselves roughing it – sleeping on coarse, itchy sheets under smelly camel wool blankets. Today things have changed – dramatically.  While the ‘purist’ experience is still available (and surprisingly popular) today’s nomads can also choose a Caidales Tent: a large black and white affair with VIP sleeping room, exquisite linen and cozy down comforters.

Recently, SHARE TODAY spoke to Mr. Canvas himself, 48-year-old Jalil Benbiga. In 1985, Jalil, working for a French tour operator, set off to explore possibilities in southern Morocco. His adventures there lasted 12 years, including a side step to Ibiza. But for this self-made man, Morocco held the key to success. Combining catering, his second love, with tour and travel, Jalil started Terres de Fête in 2004. Today, nothing is impossible for Jalil Benbiga and his talented team.

SHARE TODAY (ST): What is your favorite location for one-night camp in Morocco?

Jalil: Definitely Palm Grove at the edge of the Lalla Takerkoust Dam. Magnificent!

ST: How many people can a camp accommodate?

Jalil: We are very flexible. We typically organize events for two to ten people, but can to do large camps, too. Our largest so far was for 450 people, and that’s not a sales story. It was a fantastic event.

ST: Ecology and sustainability are important to today’s incentive travellers. Are you able make your one-night camps ecologically sustainable?

Jalil: Terres de Fete takes a sustainable approach to all our products and services. We start with environmental safeguards: taking good care of the palm trees at the camp, and always make sure the site is left as clean as when we arrived. We take pride in the fact that all our maintenance products and amenities are organic.

ST:  Could you help us plan a nomad journey across the Atlas Mountains?

Jalil: No problem. It would be a dream to create a journey back in time through Morocco. We could start with a nomadic experience in Ouarzazate. On day two, guests would convoy cross the Atlas Mountain by Jeep and camp lakeside in Caidales where they’d meet local Berbers. On day three, let’s treat your travellers to the luxuries of modern Marrakech with a VIP farewell night in the Palmeraie Gardens featuring stays in VIP marquee bedrooms.

Are you ready to sit down to the drawing board?

Where To Go For Your Next Tent Event

Palm Grove, Marrakech
The Palm Grove of Marrakech, only a few kilometres outside of town, is one of the most popular destinations in the Red City. With 13 green hectares of restful grounds and 180,000 palm trees, Palm Grove is an oasis of coolness and serenity.

Lalla Takerkoust Dam, Marrakech

The Lalla Takerkoust Dam is a wonder. Its 7 kilometre-long lake irrigates 5000 hectares along the Plain of Haouz. Camps feature a panoramic view of the towering Atlas Mountains whose peaks are beautifully reflected in the blue lake below.

Agafay Desert Land, Marrakesh
The beautiful Agafay Desert Land is situated 20 km from Marrakesh between Lalla Takerkoust Lake, the High Atlas Mountains and the mines of Guemassa. Still untouched by tourism, Agafay is called ” desert land” because of its extreme aridity and the sand-dune shape of its landscape. Glistening white sands strengthen the impression of immensity against a backdrop of the High Atlas Mountains and of the Toubkal (explain or delete reference to Toubkal). Numerous canyons hide small oases and multiple sheepfold. Absolutely enchanting.

Inspired enough to convince your next client? Furthermore we love to hear your tented camp experiences. So please feel free and share your story with us.

Neighborhood *news*

Neighborhood  *news*  by Kim Alderden

Remember the TO DO list from my post London Calling?

An apartment for the period of the Games in London (and preferable at a decent price) was top priority. And here we are; a nice 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom plus some great extra features such as a true AGA cooker in the kitchen and a movie screen in the living. The best feature? Definitely our cleaner, he is a Portuguese and English blend plus a hilarious hairdo in several shades of blonde…

In London location is key and the apartment is right in the heart of South Kensington. How I love this neighbourhood. OK, time to share the best offs in da hood with you all.

• JAK’s food & drinks, superb bar with awesome crowd and in addition an all day dining with the best carrot cake I ever tasted!

• Salt & Chocolate Laboratory, cheering for the Dutch in Olympic London I cannot do without orange nails…

• Itsu sushi bar, how cool to have this around the corner

• James Perse, expensive but fantastic basics in shirts and stuff

• Baity kitchen, yammie!!

• Aubaine, a French revolution in London’s all-day dinning scene, more yammie!

• KX gym & spa, the place to frequent after all the carrot cakes, Heineken Beers and too much tall café Latte’s…

And after my 3 weeks in London I promise to share my personal black book of London favorites with you all!

Oh what a night….

Oh what a night…   by Kim Alderden

He did it! RESPECT for Danny Boyle, the man who created yesterday night THE greatest show on earth! A triple A event; ASWESOME, ABFAB and AMAZING!

The show was on ongoing trip of highlights. Among my personal fav’s was definitely the moment where James Bond invited Her Majesty the Queen for a ride in his helicopter which ended in a parachute jump in the stadium! I love this 80-something old Queen! Furthermore mister Bean played a hilarious role with a one-finger piano play momentum on stage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra led by Sir Simon Rattle conducting Chariots of Fire. And I have to admit that I was moved to tears when Muhammad Ali entered the stage to bring the Olympic flag to place…

Four years ago I left the Olympic Stadium in Being overwhelmed by the Ceremony which took place. The Opening Ceremony in London was completely different but again a MOMENTUM in life. I can only call myself a lucky bastard for being here in London today!

Showtime!

Showtime!  by Kim Alderden

Tonight is the night for Danny Boyle and his team. A 27 million pound production and a projected 4 billion people around the globe will be watching the Opening Ceremony.

How do you keep this show a secret? More than thousands of volunteers are participating and in a rehearsal this week another 60.000 people enjoyed the show. In times of social media you could expect Olympic show leaks everywhere. But Mr. Boyle simply asked not to share the secrets. Furthermore the hashtag #savethesurprise was launched and it seemed to work.

The ceremony is called ‘Isles of Wonder’ after a sentence from The Tempest of Shakespeare. Tomorrow I can share you how WONDERfull the evening was. Lucky me that I am able to visit this live show!

Now it’s time to close my computer, prepare myself for a long ride through town and start feeling the Olympic vibe!

Event security

Event security:  conflict control is the name of the game   by Kim Alderden

Just recently we interviewed Bertus Holkema for an article in the e-magazine of Share Today.  The man is an all-round professional on Event security. At the doorstep of the Olympics I like to share some of his insights.

Who is in charge of event security? Does the project manager of the agency have full responsibility or are the various local suppliers each responsible for their own part? About public transportation in London, which is sometimes referred to as a risk due to historical facts. Why separate a group between two airplanes, and the put them the next moment on scooters through the buzzing city centre of, say, Bangkok? Event security is a subjective issue. We tried to find some answers though and had a chat with Bertus Holkema, a no-nonsense Dutchman with 20 years of experience in all sorts of global events.

A little bit of background on the man. From being pain-in-the-ass to his mom at age 13, to fighting with friends on the street a year later, to lessons in karate to create more balance to a career as a professional football player in the Netherlands, Bertus Holkema served the Commando’s in the army and was a doorman at several bars and discotheques. Without really knowing it, he created a certain image: a hospitable security guy with good manners and no fear. Then there came the phone call: the multinational Philips, as sponsor of the Fats Domino event in the Netherlands, was looking for a security expert. There and then his security career began. Touring the world with major bands such as the Dire Straits and The Rolling Stones was a boy’s dream came true. But there was more. Public festival events, bodyguard security to famous football players and eventually he was in charge of  security for major sports events worldwide. Hey, what else do you need to become a real pro on the subject?

How Green is Your Event?

How Green is Your Event?  by Yolanda Logt

More and more clients are expecting you to deliver sustainable events. Lots of corporates, especially multinationals and government agencies, include corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their marketing strategy. You may wonder about their motivation. Is the green label a response to societal pressure or a new tool companies use to push sales and show the world how responsible they are?

From Distaster to Success

From Disaster to Success  by Ola Kastensson

In Russia the majority of palaces during the communist era where given to various departments, unions and official organizations and converted to meeting spaces and conference areas (still is). This gives us a unique opportunity to use a nearby Palace in baroque style for any meetings located around the palaces in St. Petersburg. 
In the early days of modern Russia we had a search for an Italian Conference to provide a welcome reception in a nearby palace that fitted both the size, location and budget.

We located a beautiful palace room – however in need of new curtains and a fresh up of the wooden parquet floor. A finalizing of the contract included that we should provide new curtains and pavement and the administration included the work of polish and painting of the floors during Saturday and Sunday prior the reception on Monday afternoon.

Monday came and our client called us hysterically from the palace when understanding that due to an official request form the local administration – during the weekend – the work were not done according to the agreement. The floors were still not done!

Our first mini conference is a fact!

D-day is the 21st of May in Frankfurt. Today our final speaker confirmed. Meet him in person when he shares his story with us.

The line-up is complete; 4 great speakers will share their stories with you.

Would you like to be part of this intimate setting of about 20 – 25 global event experts at the Kameha Suite venue? A few seats are left.

Register today for only EURO 199 per person at info@sharetoday.com

More info? Check-out the program at  http://m.twoppy.com/sharetoday/

We love to see you in Frankfurt!

Kim Alderden & Yolanda Logt

#SHARETODAYevent